INSTRUCTIONS

Develop Obsidian plugins following official best practices for security, API usage, and UI consistency.

Core Rules

1. Use this.app - Never use global app object (debugging only)
2. Minimize logging - Errors shown by default, not debug messages
3. Build DOM safely - See security.md for mandatory patterns
4. Use managed cleanup - registerEvent(), addCommand() for auto-cleanup
5. Replace placeholders - Change MyPlugin, SampleSettingTab to actual names

When to Use

Apply this skill when:

• Creating new Obsidian plugins
• Adding commands, settings, or views
• Handling file/folder operations
• Building plugin UI components
• Reviewing Obsidian plugin code

Project Structure

my-plugin/
├── main.ts                 # Plugin entry point
├── settings.ts             # Settings tab and defaults
├── commands/               # Command handlers
├── views/                  # Custom views
├── modals/                 # Modal dialogs
└── styles.css              # Plugin styles (use CSS variables)

Resource Management

Always use Obsidian's managed registration:

// ✅ GOOD: Auto-cleanup on plugin unload
this.registerEvent(
    this.app.vault.on('create', (file) => { ... })
);

this.addCommand({
    id: 'my-command',
    name: 'My Command',
    callback: () => { ... }
});

// ❌ BAD: Manual cleanup required (avoid)
this.app.vault.on('create', this.handler);

NEVER detach leaves in onunload() - Obsidian handles this automatically.

Key References

• Security: See security.md for DOM manipulation rules (CRITICAL)
• API Patterns: See api-patterns.md for workspace, vault, and editor patterns
• UI Components: See ui-components.md for settings, modals, and views

Terminology (for Documentation)

Use sentence case for headings. Bold button text in docs.

Quality Checklist

Before releasing a plugin:

• No innerHTML, outerHTML, or insertAdjacentHTML usage
• All events registered via registerEvent()
• User file paths normalized with normalizePath()
• CSS uses Obsidian variables, not hardcoded colors
• Settings have general options at top (no heading)
• Placeholder class names replaced with actual plugin name
• Minimal console logging (errors only)